Printer slotter roll adjustment



Oct. 21, 1941. T. s. FITCHETT PRINTER SLOTTER ROLL ADJUSTMENT 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 31, 1940 ll-llllul Oct. 21, I941.

PRINTER SLOTTER ROLL ADJUSTMENT T. s. FITCHETT 2,259,441

Filed May 31, 1940 2 SheetsSlieet 2 T/mmds 5E7'ahsi' I Grimm PatentedOct. 21, 1941 UNITED STATES oF c-E 2,259,441 PRINTER sito'rrnn ROLL Iannsi'r unn'r Thomas S. Fitchett, Glen Arm, Md., assign0r. to

F. X. HooperCompany, Inc corporation of lvllaryland- Glen Arm, Md., a

Application May 31, 1940 s i rn ees is i Claims. (Cl. 101216) Thisinvention relates to printer slotters used for printing and slottingcarton blanks, the same being in the nature of an improvement on theR011 shaft adjustment described and claimed in United States Patent No.2,191,988, granted to f F. X Hooper Company, Inc., on the application ofHenry Bl Greenwood.

In response to the demand for machines of increased capacity, theoperating speeds have been extensively increased and for the same reasonthe number of blanks supported on the machine for feeding and hence theweight of the pile of blanks supported at the feed end has been likewiseincreased. These blanks, before they reach this machine, are cut to thedesired length,

The reciprocating feed in accordance with the 1.

present practice operates at a speed of approximately five hundredstrokes per minute and the resulting vibration is of a destructivenature. Also the pressure rolls operate atcorrespondingly high speedsand pressures adding to the stresses to which the metal frames aresubjected.

On account of the practice of using in the boxes and similar productsmade on these. machines, corrugated board of various thicknesses, "it isnecessary to provide an a'djustment'of the pressure rolls to accommodatethem to the different thicknesses of board. Up to the present time, thebearings of the rolls have been supported in sliding blocks which ridein slots in the frames, but this slotting of the frames has been foundto remove so much of the material essential to the support of therollers that the remaining portion of the frame are necessarily ofexcessive thickness and weight to give them adequate strength to resistthe stresses above mentioned and the frames are not only very heavy butcorrespondingly expensive. Even with this excess thickness and weight ofthe frames, failure due to roll pressure and vibration cannot always beavoided.

An important object of the present invention is to provide for theadjustment of the roll to accommodate the machine to differentthicknesses of material and at the same time to avoid the .adjustment ofthe bearings according to the previous practice andtofldo this to betteradvantage thanjin the'patent above cited.

I While eccentricjadjust nents have been used for this purpose, 1. e.,one roll together with its driving gear'being moved eccentricallyrelatively to the otherhtherehas been great difficulty withthisflarrangem'ent on account of the shifting of the line of contact ofthegears which results in ajgrinding noise due to excess friction. Thisfriction results inQloss of power and also tends to ,reduce the life'of' the gears an'dthere is further'objection to the noise which tiresthe workers and interferes with the efficiency of shop operation. iWhile the invention vof the previous patent above 'citedprovid'esfliforthe shifting of the rollers inthe adjustment of the machine to differentthicknesses of material, avoiding the slotting of the frame and shiftingof gears relatively to each other; avoidinggthachang'e of contact withthe consequent friction and gr nd ng action, the construction disclosedin the previous patent has thedisadvantage that a separate support forthe gears connecting the pressure rollers whereby jone is drivenfromjthe other has been found necessary thusincreasing the width of themachine and adding to th complication and increasing the number ofparts" and involving a tendency'jto failure and change of the contactlinecr pitch. lineofthe intermeshing gears.

The present flinventionirelates to an improved adjustmentwhereb'y theimproved result above outlined is obtained, the additional outsidsupport'forthe gears beingeliminated, thus greatly simplifying theconstruction and reducing the overall width of the machine andeconomizing space without injany wayreducing the length of the roll orthecapacity of the machine.

'As the printer jslotte'r construction to which the adjustment of thepresent application has been applied corresponds directly to that shownin Fig. 1, Patent No. 2,191,988, further illustration of the machine asassembled is considered unnecessarya's such assembly drawing would beidentical with said Fig.1; the roll adjustment of the present appliction being applied to the same rolls to which the adjustment of the saidprevious patent is applied. The present adjustment may also'beapplied towhatever rollers in this type or other types of printer slotters mayrequire'adjnstment transversely to their axis, i. e.,

to vary the grip of the rolls.

An important object of the present invention the slotting of the framewhich is incident to 5 is to provide for adjustment or th pressure mm Aas above defined.

one of the most important conditions to be maintained in the operationof a printer slotter because the exact depth of slot and the matching ofthe colors in printing is essential to a satisfactory product. Thedevice of this invention keeps the gears permanently in perfect mesh andis the only arrangement of gearing which maintains this relation of thegears so that the gears always turn on a true pitch line and for thisreason have no back lash or lost motion which would interfere withaccurate timing. It is an important advantage of the presentconstruction that a uniform angular relation of the rolls to and withthe gears by which they are driven is maintained even though the centersof the rolls are shifted relatively to these gears in making theadjustment. Thus the uniform speed of the drive being maintained, theuniform angular speed of the rollers is likewise maintained, this beinga condition which is essential to satisfac-,

tory operation of the machine.

Inthe accompanying drawings, I have illustrated a machine embodying theinvention in the preferred form.

In the drawings:

t Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the axes of one pair of pressurerollers, showing the rollers in elevation and the bearings andadjustment features in section. 0

Fig. 2 is an elevation looking to the right from the line 22 in Fig. 1,the driving connection from the gear to the lower roll shaft being shownin section on said line.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, each of which is used to indicatethe same or similar parts the difierent figures, the construction showncomprises right and left side frames I and 2 also upper pull rolls 28mounted on a shaft 29 and lower roller 32 on shaft 1, the shaft 29having secured thereto the gear 21 which may be driven from theprintercylinder gear as in the previous instance. This gear 21 on the shaft ofthe upper pull roller meshes with and drives a gear 30, having a drivingconnection to the lower roller 32 in a manner to be 7 described.

In the form. of the invention'shown, the shaft 29 of the upper roller ismounted in suitable bearings IOI, I02 in the side frames I and 2respectively, and the bearings I03, I04 for the shaft In of the loweradjustable roller 32 are mounted in rotatable disc like carriers oreccentrics I05 and I06 which fit rather closely in circular bearingsI01, I08 in the side frames I and 2 respectively. The bearings I03 andI04 are eccentrically mounted in said carriers I05 and E05 in order'thatthe rotation of the said car- 'riers in their respective bearings mayprovide for adjustment of the roll 32 toand from the roll 28. Thusslotting of the frames is avoided and the full strength of the framemaintained with a relatively reduced weight of material as compared tothe previous arrangements which provide adjustmentofthe rolls bymeans ofslots The eccentrics or carriers I05 and I00 are provided with gearteeth I09, I I0 and there is an adjusting shaft III mounted in the framebelow the roll 32 or in any convenient position, said adjusting shaftIII being provided with pinions II2 secured thereto and having teethmeshing with the gear teeth I09, III! on the respective carriers I05,I06 whereby these carriers or eccentrics may be turned uniformly, givinga uniform and equal adjustment of the respective ends of the roll 32 ormore particularly of bearings I03, I04 at the respective ends thereof,thus maintaining the roll grip uniform throughout the length of eachpair of rolls, one of which is thus adjusted.

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision on theccentric carrier I06 of an integral rigid bearing support II5 which isapertured longitudinally at II6 to receive and admit the end ofshaft II!of the roll 32 which turns freely therein, said bearing support II5being concentric with the bearings I01 and I08 in the frames I and 2 andwith the outer surfaces I0I I08 of said eccentrics I05, I08 50 that theposition of the support H5 is constant and said support merely rotatesabout its axis when th roll 32 is adjusted the latter being shiftedtransversely to its axis. This support H5 in the form shown carries ananti-friction bearing II8 for the pressure roll drive gear 30 which gearrotates freely thereon. While there may be some variation in theposition of support I I 5 the bearing H8 is essentially concentric withthe axis of carriers I05 and I06. The bearing of the gear 30 beingconcentric with said axis is not shifted transversely to its axis andmaintains its position throughout the adjustment, affording a stationarybearing for the gear when the roll adjustment is operated, and at alltimes.

The roll drive gear 30 is connected to the shaft end III of said gear inany suitable manner as by the floating cOuplingI20 to be described.

This coupling, as shown, comprises a disc I2! at the extreme left inFig. 1 and rigidly secured to the end of the shaft H1 in any suitablemanner as by means of a key I22, and this disc I2I, which has anextended hub portion I20, to provide sufiicient seating surface for thekey is provided with pins I25 projecting to the right, i, e., toward theroller 32 in Fig. l and parallel to its axis and the pins may beprovided with antifriction rollers I26. These rollers engage oppositeslots I21 of radial tendency locatedin a floating disc I28. This disc isapertured at its center at I28 to encircle the hub I24 and is alsoprovided with opposite radial slots I29 at right angles to the slotsI21. These slots engage rollers I 30 or are otherwise engaged withcorrespondingly placed pins I3I seated in a disc or flange I32 integralwith the hub of and spaced outwardly from the toothed portion of, thegear 30. It being understood in this connection that the center line ofthe opposite slots I2'I is at right angles to the center line ofopposite slots I29, both these lines extend through or near the axis ofthe roll shaft I21. Thus the motion of the gear 30 is communicated tothe shaft II! and to the roller 32 and suitable support for the bearingsof the gear 30 is provided integral with the eccentric carrier I06whereby the necessity for a separate support for said gear or itsbearings as in the previous construction is avoided.

pIm'portant accomplishments of the invention are that the constructionis made much more rigid and less liable to failure, and it is alsosimplified so that it can be built and assembled at a smaller cost andthe overall dimension of the machine as measured parallel to the axis ofthe rolls is considerably reduced.

It should be understood that this adjustment is intended to be appliedto all of the various rollers to which the corresponding adjustment inthe above cited patent is applied as shown in said patent and to otherrolls in this and similar machines.

It is important to note that as the roll 32 moves up and down in orderto accommodate corrugated board of different thicknesses or the like,the position of the gear 30 is not changed and it should also be notedthat the angular relation between the roll 32 and the gear 30 isconstant and there is no relative shifting of the roll 32 relatively tothe roll 28 due to the adjustment, reference being had to relativechange of angularity.

Important advantages are increased compactness, simplicity, cheapness,reduced dimension, and reduced liability to failure and consequentreduction of service expense in the operation of the machine.

I have thus described specifically and in detail a single embodiment ofmy invention in order that the manner of constructing, applying,operating and using the same may be fully understood, however, thespecific terms herein are used descriptively rather than in a limitingsense, the construction being capable of considerable variation in itsapplication to the purpose in hand, and the scope of the invention ispointed out in the claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a printer slotter, a pair of co-operating rolls adapted to engagethe opposite sides of a sheet to be fed by application of grippingpressure thereto to advance the sheet, one of said rolls having a shaftwith bearings therefor at the opposite ends of said roll, a carrier foreach said bearing, said carrier being rotatable about an axis which isparallel to but eccentrically located as to the axis of said bearings, abearing support integral with one rotating carrier and a bearing thereonfor a drive gear which bearing is concentric with the axis of saidcarrier, a drive gear for said roll rotating on the bearing on saidsupport and a floating coupling providing a laterally variable drivingconnection from said gear to said roll shaft.

2. In a printer slotter having presser rolls and gears driving therespective rolls and bearings at the opposite ends of the rolls, a rolladjustment comprising a rotary eccentric carrier for the bearing at eachend of one presser roll in which said bearings are eccentrically mountedand a bearing for the gear driving said latter roll, said gear bearingbeing mounted on one said carrier concentrically with the axis of thecarrier.

3. In a printer slotter having a presser roll said roll being one of apair of rolls adapted to engage opposite sides of a sheet to be advancedby application of gripping pressure thereto, said presser roll having ashaft and bearings therefor, a driving gear and a coupling providinglateral play, and connecting the gear to the roll, rotary carriers forsaid bearings, one of said carriers having a bearing support for thedriving gear for said roll and a bearing for the gear on said supportand concentric with the axis of said carrier, both bearings for the rollbeing eccentrically mounted in said carriers.

4. In a printer slotter a presser roll having a shaft and bearingstherefor, and a driving gear, rotary carriers for said bearings, one ofsaid carriers having a bearing support for the driving gear and abearing thereon concentric with the axis of said carriers, the bearingsfor the roll being eccentrically mounted in said carriers, and acoupling providing a driving connection between said gear and said rollshaft, means for adjusting both said carriers simultaneously and equallyabout their centers to adjust the roll transversely to its axis, saidcoupling comprising a floating disc, a corresponding disc secured tosaid shaft on one side of the floating disc and a member rotating withthe gear on the other side of the floating disc and pin and slotconnections from the member to the floating disc on one side and fromthe shaft disc to the floating disc on the other side, the slots of oneset of connections being at right angles to the slots of the other setof connections.

THOMAS S. FITCHETT.

